What are your favorite green smoothie recipes?

[wtjbatman]

I've started incorporating healthier foods into my diet, and recently I tried green smoothies. Nothing crazy, I'm not replacing my entire diet with them, but I've found them to be a pretty good breakfast or snack replacement instead of my usual bacon and eggs or chips/crackers. So far I'm a fan, but I can imagine finding myself getting bored of my current green smoothie recipe if I don't mix it up. So I ask you fellow mustachians, what are your favorite green smoothie recipes? Post the recipe in the thread if you can, with a link if the recipe is online somewhere else.

[LibrarIan]

Here's one I like to make:

One banana
handful of berries (black, rasp, blue, whatever you like)
2-3 ice cubes
vanilla Silk (or comparable brand) to liquefy
a couple spoonfuls of rolled oats
as much spinach as you like (since you can't really taste it when blended)

On days when I lift weights I'll substitute a vegan-friendly chocolate protein powder for the oats. Sometimes I ditch the spinach entirely. Just depends on how I feel.

[ketchup]

Not green as in leafy greens, but still green as in color:

1 can of good coconut milk
1 avocado
1 banana
2 tsp vanilla extract
small handful of ice cubes

It's been a wonderful biking breakfast for me.  Very healthy, "light" as in digestion, but not light as in calories.  Usually I'll drink about 40% ~15 minutes before leaving, and then the rest after I lock up my bike (about 4.3 miles).  It's probably too much for a "normal" breakfast though; it's somewhere around 1200 calories.  I've been thinking of possibly adding some gelatin too, to get a little extra protein on biking mornings.

[limeandpepper]

I love green smoothies and have them pretty much everyday if I'm at home. (Unfortunately not when traveling, but maybe in future I'll look into an easily portable blender for that.) A simple favourite is banana, lemon and baby spinach. I make all sorts though, depending on what's in season and whatever combination strikes my fancy that day.

You might find more ideas here as well (and maybe join in)!
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/a-healthy-smoothie-everyday!/

[wealthviahealth]

1 banana, splash of oj, spinach, cup of frozen blueberries, and a scoop of vanilla protein powder, blend with ice.
If you don't have protein powder - try greek yogurt or a few raw eggs.

I find the best taste and feeling of satiety by using as little water as possible as you can make the shakes much thicker/creamier if you use ice and have either milk or yogurt as your liquid.

[onehappypanda]

I've been making smoothies for a long time - my advice is just to start throwing random ish in there and you'll find out what you like. To beat boredom, use flavorful add-ins like ginger, cinnamon, etc. Some recent faves...

Tropical: Banana, spinach, frozen pineapple and/or mango
PBJ: Spinach, peanut butter, frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries (also good with strawberries or almond butter)
Ginger Peach: Spinach, frozen peaches, banana, sliced fresh ginger root
Chocolate Cherry: Spinach, frozen cherries, almond butter, cocoa powder, honey

[kaizen]

@onehappypanda - Cinnamon? Yum! and your PBJ sounds awesome. So does chocolate cherry... now I want to go grocery shopping, uh oh.

My fave secret smoothie ingredients are lemon juice and ginger. I recently started using coconut cream in smoothies and have yet to make one I didn't like.

I have a question on bananas though - it seems so many green smoothies are dependent on bananas to mask the flavor of spinach (or avocado). But they're pretty high glycemic index. Not so bad if you're making a giant smoothie and it's spread out across 2 or 3. Anybody have any lower sugar alternatives?

[sunnyca]

My green smoothies are usually just various leafy greens and random veggies that are starting to wilt a bit.  I've actually grown to enjoy the taste over time. 

But here are some lower glycemic alternatives to mask the green taste:

-Unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao nibs
-Mesquite powder
-Pears, apples, other lower-glycemic fruit
-Beets or purple cabbage!  It sounds weird, I know, but it's actually really good.

[gecko10x]

I think the banana is there as a thickener and filler more than anything else. You should be able to achieve the same with cooked potato and/or Greek yogurt.

[onehappypanda]

@onehappypanda - Cinnamon? Yum! and your PBJ sounds awesome. So does chocolate cherry... now I want to go grocery shopping, uh oh.

My fave secret smoothie ingredients are lemon juice and ginger. I recently started using coconut cream in smoothies and have yet to make one I didn't like.

I have a question on bananas though - it seems so many green smoothies are dependent on bananas to mask the flavor of spinach (or avocado). But they're pretty high glycemic index. Not so bad if you're making a giant smoothie and it's spread out across 2 or 3. Anybody have any lower sugar alternatives?

I like the bananas because they give it a nice creamy texture, I really find that almost any fruit will cover the mild taste of spinach. Alternatives to add creaminess with lower-GI could be any nut butter, some protein powders, and I've recently been toying with avocado. But then the sweetness is obviously less too - that's easy to adjust to your taste preferences with some other sweet fruit or honey (but obvs not too much, or it defeats the purpose). Some people use stevia or whatnot for calorie-free sweeteness, I prefer not too because it does odd things to my stomach.

I see lots of recipes with greek yogurt, but I can't comment on those because I avoid dairy (mildly lactose intolerant, whomp).

[kaizen]

Nice banana alternatives, thanks you guys!

[Freedom2016]

1 banana, splash of oj, spinach, cup of frozen blueberries, and a scoop of vanilla protein powder, blend with ice.
If you don't have protein powder - try greek yogurt or a few raw eggs.

I find the best taste and feeling of satiety by using as little water as possible as you can make the shakes much thicker/creamier if you use ice and have either milk or yogurt as your liquid.

The above is almost exactly what I make (only difference - I do yogurt AND protein powder and add add'l fruits)
-1 banana
-strawberries
-blueberries or raspberries (whatever's on hand)
-greek yogurt
-splash of OJ
-lots of spinach
-protein powder
-handful of ice cubes

Loving the other recipes on this thread!

[Frankies Girl]

Used to be my go-to (and now I need to add this to my shopping list:

handful of fresh spinach
handful of kale (slightly smaller than the spinach)
1 medium banana
strawberries (about half a cup)
large dollop of coconut oil or about half cup of coconut milk
ice

[mrsggrowsveg]

My favorite green smoothie:

Big Handful of Spinach
1 whole frozen banana
some fresh mint
almond milk
a few drops peppermint extract

[zataks]

Coconut water
bunch of spinach (or kale.  or a bit of both. maybe some romaine too)
Tbsp flax seed
carrot
1/4 C almonds
frozen mango or pineapple

[AMustachianMurse]

2 Apples.  1/2 Lemon.  Few handfuls of kale/spinach.  1 Cucumber.  1-2 Stalks Celery.  Cinnamon to taste.